Headley Heath, Mickleham, Box Hill
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point your feet on a new path Headley Heath, Mickleham, Box Hill Distance: 14 km=9 miles easy-to-moderate walking with a steep bit Region: Surrey Date written: 4-sep-2011 Map: Explorer 146 (Dorking) Date revised: 7-oct-2020 Author: Schwebefuss Refreshments: Mickleham, Box Hill and Boxhill village Problems, changes? We depend on your feedback: [email protected] Public rights are restricted to printing, copying or distributing this document exactly as seen here, complete and without any cutting or editing. See Principles on main webpage. Woodland, hills, heath, views In Brief This a variation on a classic walk, noted for its sudden great views, from the beautiful Headley Heath to Surrey’s best known hill. This walk shows their unexpected beauty and complexity. This walk seems longer than it is because of the gradients and is longer than the given distance when these are taken into account. Despite the hilly terrain, this walk has long pleasant stretches on level paths. The stile count is zero . Any kind of attire is ok but in the wetter seasons you may find some mud on the bridleways. This walk is fine for dogs too. The walk begins in the Headley Heath NT main car park (free to members: scan your card!), nearest postcode KT18 6QA , grid ref TQ 204 539. For more details, see at the end of this text ( Getting There ). This walk is also the start of the Box Hill-Reigate-Walton Monster . Bird's Eye View Leg 1 Mickleham Downs Leg 2 START Headley Heath Mickleham Leg 3 Leg 4 Box Hill www.fancyfreewalks.org Page 1 The Walk Leg 1: Headley Heath to Mickleham, 4½ km=3 miles 1 You need to concentrate a little, just at the start here. With your back to the road, go to the right -hand side of the car park, where there is a triangular notice- board. Go forward across the right-hand edge of the grassy space for just over 10m and, just before some benches under an oak tree, take a narrow path diagonally right into the woods. 15m after you enter the trees, before your path goes down a bank, turn right on another path. In 50m, at a T-junction, turn left. In about 100m, the path meets a dusty hard drive by a signpost. Go straight ahead on a footpath as indicated. This path runs through bracken and woodland, with gardens on your right at first. In ½ km, noticeboard it comes down to a junction of sandy tracks and a road. 2 Cross the road to a lane opposite, called Tumber Street. Avoiding little paths branching Nower off, you pass various cottages and a stud farm Wood and finally ascend to a Y-junction. Take the left hand lane, Langley Lane, ignore a footpath left, and continue on a track where the lane ends. The track passes Nower Wood on the right, an 80-acre area of ancient woodland Tumber run by the Surrey Wildlife Trust as an educational Street nature reserve. Nower Wood is open by appointment only when there are no school visits (ring 01483-795440). The track emerges from the trees, giving you views ahead towards Box Hill and Ranmore Common, and comes down to a road. Cross the road and turn right on a footpath that runs parallel to it. Soon you come to a small parking area with two signposted bridleways leading off. 3 Take the left hand bridleway. This path runs under some fine beech trees and continues straight for almost 1 km. Suddenly the fence on the left ends. Ignore a track on the left here. You are now out of the trees on the open Mickleham Downs. From the start there is a wire fence separating walkers and riders. Keep to the left of the fence, just after the noticeboard and sign, and continue straight ahead down the beautiful grassy slope. The spire of St Barnabas church, Ranmore, is visible on the hill in the distance exactly in the direction you are walking. go to left of fence Page 2 www.fancyfreewalks.org 4 Continue along the grassy slope for 600m, ignoring any paths forking off. A fence on your right separates you from the horse track at first and breaks off. 80m after the separating fence begins again, you reach a wooden bench on your right, after which the path forks. Take the right fork, slightly to the right of your original direction. This wide grassy path goes along the right side of a clearing. When it rounds a curve and forks again just after a post, take the right hand fork, the less grassy path, that stays close to the trees on the right, goes past a triangulation pillar and enters woodland. Continue through the sycamores to a wide crossing path. Cross over to a path on the other side. Mickleham Downs bench 5 After 70m, veer left on another wide path joining from the right [Oct 2020: going round several fallen trees at this point] . This path runs through more steep woodland and then descends for about descent 200m quite steeply. Careful: it may be slippery when wet! It reaches a wide crossing path, an ancient track, with a signpost. 6 Go straight ahead over the track on another path, ignoring the signpost. The path goes down shallow steps past Mickleham Alms Houses and then alongside the King William IV pub. The King William IV (locally known as the “King Billy”) is an atmospheric pub dating from 1790 that serves several real ales and many good, if rather pricey, dishes in a pretty ignore garden accessed up steep steps. It is closed Monday signpost ! and Tuesday, otherwise open all day. (There are two other eateries en route.) Leg 2: Through Mickleham, 2 km (1 mile) 1 Turn left on the lane outside the pub. Before reaching the busy A24 road, turn left into School Lane. Where the lane curves left, carry straight ahead on a gravel drive. Avoid left turns into a children’s playground by continuing straight ahead on a narrow hedged path next to houses. At a T-junction, turn left on a foot- path. The path runs alongside a field on the left and crosses a lane with yellow markers. Shortly, the large churchyard tree on your left no longer carries the amusing notice “do not throw stones at this notice”. A left fork here will take you into a flower garden of brief or eternal repose. You soon reach the churchyard of St Michael’s. www.fancyfreewalks.org Page 3 This ancient church with its squat spire still has traces of its Saxon origins but is mainly Norman, around 1180. The side chapel, known as the Norbury Chapel, with its chequered stone and flint walls goes back to around 1300. Note the few unusual wooden structures in place of gravestones. Turn right alongside the church to the road. Opposite is the Running Horses pub. The Running Horses is a popular Brakspear gastropub, a hotel and a 16 th - century inn. The pub restaurant with an al fresco dining option has a good menu and à la carte offerings suggesting fine dining, attended by bow-tied waiters. Although tempting, a full meal here may be inadvisable, since you are barely half way through the walk, unless you dispose of the languishing participants here to pick up later. 2 Cross the road and turn left along the pavement. The pavement runs past several houses, including Mickleham Lodge on the right. Near the end of the pavement, ignore a footpath right and at the end take a footpath on the right that runs parallel to the road. After passing the junction with Headley Lane on the left and some bus stops, immed- iately re-join the road, cross over and go left through the entrance to Juniper Hall Field Research Centre (FRC). In only 10m, before some huts, turn right and keep right on a path running uphill with a large meadow on your left. Where the meadow ends, keep ahead through woodland. The path comes to a T-junction with a surfaced track. Turn left on the track uphill. Leg 3: Mickleham to Box Hill village, 3½ km (2 miles) 1 In 150m, where the track bends right into a house, keep straight ahead on a gravel path as indicated by the yellow arrow. Later, immediately after a wooden gate, there is a sudden break in the trees on the left with views down to Juniper Hall and up to Norbury Park on the hill in the distance. Here leave the footpath by turning right on a narrow path uphill. This short stretch up to the Broadwood Tower is rather steep. If your legs are rebelling, you can reach the tower by continuing on the path, turning sharp right and keeping right at each junction. Soon the Broadwood Tower comes into view and in a total of 100m you reach it. sudden view steep ascent Broadwood Tower This odd little flint tower, known variously as Box Hill Tower or Broadwood’s Folly was built by Thomas Broadwood the piano maker around 1814 as something to view from his splendid residence, Juniper Hall. The door is blocked now, probably for safety reasons, and grooves of old staircases can be seen inside. Page 4 www.fancyfreewalks.org 2 From the tower, continue in the same direction through a small wooden gate. Immediately there is a fine view westwards over the Mole Valley and the hills beyond. Stay on this wide pleasant level track, going through another small wooden gate, as it runs through woodland and, after 1 km, passes some junctions and waymarkers to reach the open grassy and usually well- populated, space that adjoins Box Hill car park over on the right (an alternative starting point).